


ongoing investigation

by SerpentineJ



Category: Partners for Justice | 검법남녀 (TV)
Genre: Multi, ghsldkfj .. ot3fic
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-02-07
Updated: 2020-02-07
Packaged: 2021-02-27 23:48:35
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 4,721
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/22594312
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/SerpentineJ/pseuds/SerpentineJ
Summary: Jihan, Eun Sol, and Baek Beom somehow, gradually, accidentally, end up together.
Relationships: Do Jihan/Eun Sol/Baek Beom
Comments: 3
Kudos: 12





	ongoing investigation

**Author's Note:**

> NOTE: aka The Rehabilitation of Baek Beom (who should really go see a therapist)
> 
> ghfkjdslkdfj.. love them .. jihan didnt stand out that much to me in the first season (actually my vested interest was in baek beom/eun sol which . yes. i know hes old) but as i watched the second he became my favorite .. hes just so cute .. and now im fixated on this ot3. jihan is the dictionary definition of “bisexual moron” idk how i didnt see it when basically baek beom and eun sol BOTH whipped his ass in 1 episode
> 
> im completely making up everything that happens after s2 because theres still no word on s3 T-T ngl im kind of worried bc the director of seasons 1-2 left mbc... and they still havent confirmed anything... but imagine this takes place like 3 years after the start of the series 
> 
> i think of their ages around 5-7 years younger than their actors ages ! based on the idea that eun sol’s actress is 35 but eun sol, career-wise, seems like she would be around her late 20s at the beginning of the series. so jihan is in his late 30s and baek beom is in his early 40s (which lines up with his timeline if you say the average age for getting married and starting a family is early 30s and it’s been 10 years since his accident).

Eun Sol has been on 99 blind dates.

This is a lot, even for a former member of high society. Of all of those blind dates, many of them had had one thing in common – their subjects (or their subjects’ overbearing mothers) hadn’t even considered the idea of their wife-to-be spending time on anything other than child-rearing. Since Eun Sol’s studies and later employment hadn’t been matters up for discussion, she had diplomatically turned every single one of them down. She had eventually begun to think of romance as something not compatible with her line of work.

“Oh,” she says, a bit out of breath because Do Jihan, former Deputy Prosecutor, has just kissed her on the mouth. His hand is warm and slightly calloused over hers. “Attorney-“

“Was that,” Jihan says, quietly, a bit of his signature slanted smile pulling at one corner of his mouth, “okay?”

A Doberman, despite its powerful jaws and near-violent tenacity, is a protector dog. Jihan has slowly, slowly, in his cautious and uniquely charming way, been getting closer to Eun Sol after his return to the legal field as a defense attorney.

They had been eating instant ramyeon in Eun Sol’s new office and comparing recent case notes. Eun Sol, as the new Deputy Chief Prosecutor, had gotten permission to occasionally hire Jihan’s new law office in a consultant capacity. Two bowls of noodles sit on the table, their neglected contents getting soggy with soup.

“Huh?” She says, the daze of the pressure of his lips against hers starting to fade. “Oh! Um.”

She can feel her face turning red. She knows the dark circles under her eyes look worse than ever, and she after a moment smiles, her hand warm under his fingers.

He looks a little worried. It’s sweet. She closes her case file – normally, she wouldn’t get distracted from work for anything, but this is just paperwork and report writing. It’s important, but nothing that can’t wait until the morning.

Her mother would kill her. A disgraced prosecutor who’s ten years older than her? Eun Sol is glad she’s already been disowned.

“Do you,” she says, “have some time this weekend?”

\--

They keep it a secret from everyone at work that they’re together. It’s not that difficult, most of the time, because Jihan and Eun Sol aren’t the kind of people who would let something like that get in the way of their jobs. Them being friendly is nothing new, and if Jihan’s palm slides to the small of Eun Sol’s back a few times during the week, no one notices.

Eun Sol finds out that Jihan likes amusement parks.

“Oh, I’m so tired.” Jihan complains, spread out on Eun Sol’s bed. “My deposition today was so tough.”

“So you’re at my place again?” Eun Sol says fondly. She doesn’t take her eyes off her laptop. 

“I can’t believe you take work home with you.” Jihan grumbles. His shirt is getting wrinkled. At least he had hung up his jacket and pulled off his tie before laying down. “I thought I was supposed to be the workaholic.”

“I’m almost done.” Eun Sol says. “I just need to review the witness list for tomorrow’s afternoon trial.”

A hand settles on her shoulder. She jumps and looks around. When had he gotten up? Jihan leans over her shoulder and skims the witness list.

“Mm.” He makes the noise that means he’s thinking. His other hand comes around and covers Eun Sol’s eyes with his fingers. She raises her eyebrows. “Then I’ll read it for you.”

“Are you going to be at my trial?” She jokes, leaning into him. Her eyes are tired anyways.

“Nope.” Jihan sounds like he’s smiling, and Eun Sol suddenly wants to see him. There’s the rustling noise of his clothing, and then he speaks again. “I’ll transfer it to you like this.”

He uncovers her eyes and kisses her with one motion – Eun Sol makes a surprised noise before laughing and kissing him back, one hand slipping up to his elbow.

“If it worked like that, everyone at the office would be doing it.” Eun Sol says with a smile. She’s happy. Without thinking, she says, “If it worked like that, I would kiss Dr. Psycho every time we had a case, just to know what he’s thinking.”

Conventionally, it’s an odd thing to say to one’s current significant other, for sure. Eun Sol stops to think about it the words leave her mouth, but Jihan nods his head like he knows exactly what she’s talking about.

\--

It only takes a few months for Jihan to all but move in. He still goes back to his own place to sleep sometimes, but at least half of his wardrobe is hanging in Eun Sol’s bare closet. His toothbrush, which was new the first time he had stayed overnight, is starting to fray at the bristles. 

In that time, miraculously, they’ve never run into Baek Beom. 

Eun Sol should’ve known that their luck wouldn’t hold out.

“Why is it always the elevator?” She mutters under her breath. She had rushed to catch the lift as the doors were closing, not seeing Baek Beom already inside. 

Baek Beom is staring resolutely at the corner of the elevator. 

“Baek Beom is your neighbor?” Jihan whispers in her ear. She winces. The elevator isn’t that big. Baek Beom can definitely hear everything he says, but knowing Jihan, he probably means him to, Eun Sol thinks despairingly. 

“It’s a long story.” She murmurs.

Baek Beom side-eyes them. Eun Sol quickly averts her gaze. 

“So... you live here,” Jihan says. Eun Sol almost laughs. That’s exactly what she had said the first time they had run into each other here. 

“No personal conversations.” Baek Beom replies, turning his head back to the front of the elevator. Jihan raises his eyebrows.

“He’s always like that. Don’t mind it.” Eun Sol says, settling a hand on Jihan’s forearm out of instinct, subconsciously letting her guard down as the elevator brings them closer to home. Baek Beom catches the movement from the corner of his eye, but looks away when he sees Jihan watching.

The elevator finally, finally dings, releasing them from its prison of embarrassment – Eun Sol all but rushes out, pulling a surprised Jihan by the arm. 

Baek Beom watches them go down the hallway.

\--

“We need to buy a bigger mattress,” Jihan says.

“Home shopping?” Eun Sol replies. “Why don’t you just move in completely?”

It’s not a bad idea. Jihan’s apartment is expensive for what it is and run-down for its price point. He had only ended up there because of a rush for Seoul housing after being suddenly transferred from Busan. After the Doctor K cases, and the subsequent near-death-and-going-rogue debacle, he had run through his two year lease before he’d known it.

“Okay.” He says, propping his head up on one hand, making himself comfortable on Eun Sol’s bed. “No take-backs.”

“My place is closer to your office, anyways.” She says, ignoring her fluttering heartbeat. She sorts all her things for tomorrow into her briefcase and hangs it behind the door in preparation for waking up. 

Her apartment feels a little bit more lived in, with Jihan’s coat hung messily on the coat rack and his shoes at the entrance next to hers.

She joins him on the bed. They look odd. Two fully grown adults, still in their work clothes, scrunched onto a small single-person bed together. 

Jihan smiles and takes her hand in his, lacing their fingers together.

“So,” he says, breaking the comfortable silence. “Baek Beom is your neighbor.”

She squeezes his hand.

\--

Eun Sol tosses and turns in bed.

A cold sweat slicks her brow. Nightmares are nothing new to her – in school, she had her fair share of restless, stimulant-fuelled dreams. Even as a working adult, the things she see at work sometimes follow her home at night. This time, behind her closed lids, a new type of fear is brewing. 

“Eun Sol,” Jihan says, voice scratchy with sleep, propped up on one side on their new double mattress. “Eun Sol. Wake up.”

He shakes her gently. Her nightclothes stick to her skin. He grabs her hand, and her eyes fly open a moment later with a sharp inhale.

“Jihan.” She gasps.

“Right here.” He says. He peers at her in the near-darkness. The sun isn’t quite up yet, and the sky outside is a deep, vivid indigo, glowing like the bottom of the sea through their curtains. “Are you okay?”

“I’m fine.” She says. She frowns and rubs her eyes. Her heart rate is starting to slow. “I had a nightmare.”

“Want to talk about it?”

She smiles in the dark.

“It was about the time you were away,” she says. Jihan’s thumb, which had been slowly tracing circles on the back of her hand, pauses for a moment. They both understand what she’s talking about. 

He had let Baek Beom in on his plan fairly quickly, but had insisted on shuttering Eun Sol out for a while for the sake of her safety. Maybe it had been a misguided sense of protection, since she had once been his subordinate, but it had made Eun Sol feel frustrated and untrustworthy. They had talked it out after Jihan had returned. Eun Sol sometimes jokes about it, but it’s not the kind of experience that’s quick to fade.

“Oh.” He says. 

Eun Sol squeezes his hand.

“It’s not all bad.” She says, an edge of sleepiness already finding its way back into her voice. “It took a lot for Dr. Psycho and I to bring you home, but it was worth it.”

Jihan smiles.

“You like him a lot, don’t you?” He says.

“You do too. We must be crazy.” She replies, fondly. She rolls over so she and Jihan are facing each other, their warmth seeping through the bedsheets together. “Did I ever tell you about the time we almost got MERS?”

\--

Baek Beom isn’t used to finding surprises in his office. Everyone in the building knows not to enter the room when he’s not there, unless they’re eager for a verbal evisceration. 

He stares at the man napping on his futon.

Do Jihan is fast asleep, laid out on the mattress that Baek Beom usually sleeps on when he stays overnight at the office, his curly hair mussed like he hasn’t seen a mirror recently. His legs are dangling off the side. Baek Beom closes the door (quietly, though he wouldn’t admit it) behind him.

He takes a step towards the futon before pausing. Jihan’s chest rises and falls gently. 

He goes back to his desk. With one more look towards the futon, he settles into his office chair and turns on his desktop.

Ten minutes later, the door swings open – Jang steps in, and opens his mouth as though to say something, but Baek Beom presses a finger to his lips, casting a meaningful glance at the futon. Jang blinks and retreats, closing the door.

Another half an hour later, Jihan stirs. Baek Beom stops his typing and looks over. Jihan rolls onto his side, rubbing his eyes, and then sits up, propping himself up on one arm. His jacket is off God-knows-where, and his shirtsleeves are rolled up to the forearms, which means he’s been working hard, as usual. It’s unexpectedly appealing on his stocky frame.

“Awake?” Baek Beom says, his typical biting tone only slightly curbed. 

“Mm.” Jihan says, squinting at his watch. “Crap, I fell asleep.”

Baek Beom types another line of his report. Suddenly, the sixteenth stab wound victim autopsy this month doesn’t seem so interesting. 

“Did you need something?” Baek Beom says, after a moment of Jihan declining to elaborate.

Jihan scrunches his nose at him.

“Ah, right.” He says, snapping his fingers, brushing out his tie. “I wanted to ask about the fall victim case you autopsied last night...”

\--

“You always drink by yourself,” Eun Sol says, sitting down at Baek Beom’s table at the pojangcha. The sight of him eating alone is a familiar one. She likes to join him whenever she sees it. She leans her briefcase against the metal leg of the rickety plastic table and flags down the lady at the cart. “Ma’am, can I have another shotglass?”

“And you always invite yourself without asking,” he replies, with most of his usual snark, taking a bite of pickled radish. 

The lady sets another shotglass on the table. 

“Thank you,” Eun Sol says. She glances at Baek Beom. “I know you won’t pour me a drink, so I’ll do it myself.”

“No, I’ll do it.” He sighs. He picks up the soju bottle and pours her a shot.

Eun Sol raises her eyebrows.

“Are you feeling okay?” She says.

“I’m fine,” Baek Beom snipes at her, putting the bottle back on the table. “What about you? Don’t you have anything else to do?”

“Not really.” Eun Sol says, taking her shot. She picks up the bottle and fills both her and Baek Beom’s empty glasses. She sips at her second glass, exhaling with a sigh.

“Do Jihan isn’t waiting for you at home?” He says, raising his eyebrows. 

Eun Sol blinks.

“Ah,” she says, like she’s forgotten something. “He probably wants to drink with you, too.”

“What?” Baek Beom says.

“Come on, get your stuff,” she says, standing up, downing the rest of her drink and pushing Baek Beom’s glass towards him, capping the bottle and digging for her wallet. “Ma’am, can I have a few more bottles of soju?”

\--

“I’m back,” Eun Sol says, pushing open her apartment door.

“Welcome back...” Jihan says, trailing off when he looks up from his laptop, seated at the kitchen table. “Dr. Baek?”

“He was drinking all by himself, so I brought him.” Eun Sol says, sounding oddly proud of herself. She’s dragging Baek Beom by the wrist and holding a black plastic bag of soju in the other hand. He’s carrying her briefcase.

“Am I a dog?” Baek Beom says, disgruntled. 

“Oh,” Jihan says, pushing his papers to the side, shutting his laptop. “Are we drinking?”

Eun Sol drops the bag onto the table with a clinking noise.

“It’s the weekend tomorrow, and you're not on shift, so you don’t have work, right?” She says, looking at Baek Beom. 

He rolls his eyes.

\--

“And then he made me get an emergency warrant for the body he’d just stolen,” Eun Sol complains, cheeks flushed. Jihan is laughing. Baek Beom glares at both of them and takes a drink. “Isn’t that the most ridiculous thing you’ve ever heard?”

“I’d expect nothing less from Dr. Baek,” Jihan smiles.

“You’ve really mellowed a lot, you know,” Eun Sol says, wagging a finger in his face.

“Me?” Baek Beom snorts, fiddling with his chopsticks. 

“Mm.” Eun Sol says, leaning on the table. “I bet even Jin Dol would agree. You’re still so annoying, but...”

“But what?” Baek Beom scoffs. “Am I supposed to be flattered?”

“Now, now.” Jihan says, one corner of his lips quirked in a fond smile. “I think you’re both fine the way you are.”

“Shut up,” Eun Sol and Baek Beom say, in unison. Jihan laughs.

Drinking is best done with ramyeon – after the three of them have finished the soju and polished off an instant meal, several hours later finds them pleasantly buzzed.

Eun Sol is leaning across the table, her fingers wrapped around Baek Beom’s wrist. She shakes his hand in the air.

“You have to get outside sometimes, okay, Dr. Psycho?” She says, insistently. “It’s not good for your health.”

“Leave me alone,” he mumbles. He doesn’t try to get his hand back. 

“I know it’s hard, but you have to live your life,” Eun Sol continues, giving no indication she’s heard him. Her lisp is a little more pronounced when she’s been drinking. “You can’t feel guilty all the time, okay?”

“Who said I do?” He says, raising his eyebrows, the way he does when she finally catches onto his train of thinking at a crime scene. 

Eun Sol frowns.

“You still only deal with dead people,” she mutters.

“I’m here, aren’t I?” He snips, with a familiar tone, as though she’s slow on picking up something that should be obvious.

She blinks.

“What?” She says.

He scoffs. 

“Aren’t you’re the one who told me? That there’s more ways to see through people than cutting them up. You’re supposed to be good at this.” He says. He wiggles his fingers, wrist still caught in Eun Sol’s grip. “See? My hand doesn’t shake.”

She squints at his hand.

“Huh,” she says. “You’re right.”

Jihan, who had been resting his head on the table, raises it. He reaches over the tabletop and picks up Baek Beom’s left palm between his thumb and four fingers, like an interesting specimen.

“What are you doing?” Baek Beom says. 

“Mm. Just thought I’d make it even.” Jihan mumbles, shifting his grip on Baek Beom’s hand. He sleepily props his chin on the folded elbow of his other arm, fully laid out on the table.

Baek Beom frowns at him.

\--

Baek Beom ends up staying the night, if only because he falls asleep before he can remember to go home. He wakes up in Eun Sol’s bed. This is not normal behavior between coworkers, but his and Eun Sol’s relationship has never really been normal.

The bed is too small for the three of them to fit vertically, so they’re all laid out across it horizontally, with Eun Sol in the middle. He and Eun Sol are still in their work clothes – Jihan, who had been at home before them, is wearing a comfortable looking sweater.

Eun Sol is hogging all the blankets. Baek Beom sits up with a groan.

His instinctive first thought is to grab his bag and his NFS keycard from the table and make a quiet exit, but he doesn’t get the chance, because –

“Good morning,” Jihan yawns. Baek Beom looks at him. His hair is a mess. Jihan squints at him over Eun Sol’s blanket-covered form. “Sleep well?”

“What’s with this situation?” Baek Beom mutters. His head aches. He’s not young enough anymore to drink like that. He struggles into a standing position, pushing the corner of the blanket that he had managed to protect in his sleep onto Eun Sol’s pile. 

He finds the kettle on the kitchen counter. After a moment’s hesitation, he opens one of the many cabinets along the wall – his unit’s setup is similar to Eun Sol’s, but his cabinets mostly hold light-sensitive experiments and case studies. 

“Third one from the left,” Jihan says, sitting up on the bed, his voice a little hoarse.

Baek Beom glances back at him. He takes three mismatched mugs out from the cabinet and pours some water, and walks back over to the bed with two of them, passing one to Jihan.

“Thanks.” Jihan says. He looks down at Eun Sol. His expression is so fond that Baek Beom suddenly almost feels uncomfortable, like he’s intruding on a private moment, but Jihan stands up in the next moment, staggering slightly and swallowing his water in big gulps before stumbling in the direction of the bathroom.

Baek Beom snorts a laugh. 

“Prosecutor Eun,” he says, shaking her. He’s suddenly reminded of Ma Sungjae’s case, and finding Eun Sol on the floor, sleeping off amphetamines. “Eun Pro.”

“Mmgh.” She makes a noise and rolls over. Her heels are discarded on the floor next to the bed. Her blouse must be awfully wrinkled. Her hair, cut shorter now than when he had first met her, sticks messily out of the top of the blanket.

“Eun Sol,” he says, as Jihan comes out of the bathroom. “Come on, get up.”

“Okay, okay,” she mumbles. She sits up. Her eyes are still closed. He pushes the mug of water into her hands. She winces, and Baek Beom clicks his tongue at her.

“Of course it hurts. How much did you drink last night?”

She opens her eyes a fraction to glare at him.

He frowns at her and goes back to the kitchen table to collect his own water. It soothes his headache a bit. He knows Eun Sol must have painkillers somewhere, but he doesn’t feel like getting up to look for them.

Jihan sets two little pills in front of him.

“Hangover cure?” He says, his sweater hanging lopsidedly across his collarbone in a way that’s kind of distracting. He walks to the fridge and pops it open. “We have eggs.”

“Ugh,” Baek Beom says.

“I’m hungry,” Eun Sol says, eyes still closed. She’s drinking the water. 

“How can you be hungry?” Baek Beom mutters.

The situation, for some reason, isn’t awkward at all – Baek Beom would be conflicted about it, if he weren’t so tired, and if Eun Sol and Jihan’s overtures were anything but gentle. He feels like an animal being coaxed to shelter. It’s so warm he can’t resist walking into it.

It’s not even that weird when Jihan touches Baek Beom. Nothing big – just a light hand at the nape of his neck when he sets a plate of eggs and toast with butter in front of him. Eun Sol’s eyes are wide open now. She’s watching carefully, quietly, from the bed, as though any noise might scare Baek Beom off.

He doesn’t push Jihan away. Instead, he tilts his head, not enough to dislodge his fingers.

“Thanks,” he says, and Jihan beams at him.

\--

The first time Eun Sol kisses him is some weeks later.

They’ve just finished up dinner – Baek Beom eats at their apartment at least once a week, now, and Jihan’s cooking is remarkably good, so the nights always end with clean plates and a warm, satisfied feeling. 

“Still, you were too mean.” Eun Sol is chastizing him, sitting beside him at the table. “He’s new. Of course he’s going to vomit at a crime scene.”

“He didn’t just vomit at a crime scene,” Baek Beom says, voice rising in pitch. “He vomited on the crime scene! On my evidence!”

“Mm. That does sound like a problem,” Jihan says indulgently.

“It is a problem.” Baek Beom mutters. “He contaminated the entire scene.”

“You are so annoying,” Eun Sol says. She’s fond of saying it. She has an odd look on her face, the one she has when she’s truly about to do something reckless, but she’s not going to regret it – Eun Sol has always been the most gutsy out of the three of them.

Jihan recognizes the look. He watches her with a curious expression.

“Huh?” Baek Beom says.

“I must be crazy,” Eun Sol breathes, and she grabs his face in her hands like she’s done before once at a crime scene, and plants a full kiss on his mouth. 

“Ah,” Baek Beom says, the shocked noise escaping against Eun Sol’s lips. Jihan watches with a mildly surprised look. After a moment, Eun Sol pulls away, her face flushed and stubbornly triumphant.

Baek Beom stares at her.

“I thought we were waiting until he made the first move?” Jihan asks, smiling, as though he had kind of expected this anyways.

“Huh?” Baek Beom says. He looks over at him.

“He’s so indecisive, we can’t count on him to do anything,” Eun Sol says, gesturing at Baek Beom. Her cheeks are pinker than her lips. She looks flustered, but oddly happy - she meets Baek Beom’s eyes almost defiantly. It’s disturbingly endearing. He chalks it up to having known her for so long.

“What?” He says, raising his eyebrows. “After all the times I helped you?”

He doesn’t know what’s happening here but, he realizes with a slight shock, if he’s with them, he feels safe. He feels secure. He might be in love. It’s a different type of love than he had found with Han Sohee. It feels like a second lease on life.

“Wait,” he says. He turns to Jihan. “What do you mean, waiting?”

Jihan smiles at him. Baek Beom feels like he should be tired of that smile by now, but he’s not. 

“I’ll tell you later.” He says, not answering the question. He stands up and, under the pretense of taking his mug to the sink, comes around the table to Baek Beom’s side. 

He leans down and kisses him. Baek Beom sees it coming, and doesn’t move away.

Jihan’s lips are soft. His smile is ever-present. Baek Beom is thinking about how, if they were both standing, Jihan would have to lean up to reach his mouth.

“You were right about the stubble,” Jihan says in Eun Sol’s direction when he pulls away. His cheeks are slightly red, but he doesn’t seem too fazed. That doesn’t seem fair, and Eun Sol mentally makes a note to make him blush as much as she had at a later time.

\--

As it turns out, they do buy a bigger bed.

\--

“Sol.”

Eun Sol whirls around.

“Yul,” she says, as the familiar, lurking form of her older brother enters her view. She smiles. He looks at her like he always has, ever since they were young – with a mixture of care and guilt.

“Let’s go in.” He says, gesturing towards the door of the restaurant he had invited her to. In the years since she had left home, she hasn’t seen him, outside of the occasional awkward dinner with their parents and on the news.

Once they’re seated, she glances at the menu (fancy) and the prices (a splurge on a civil servant’s salary). She folds it and sets it down. Her brother is fiddling with the handle of his fork.

“Don’t fidget,” she says, fondly. “Don’t Mom and Dad hate it when you do that?”

He grimaces.

The waiter comes and takes their orders.

“How have you been?” He says, awkwardly.

“Good,” she says, the smile never leaving her face. “My latest case made the front page. Did you see it?”

His lips quirk up for the first time since he had arrived.

“I did.” He says. “All the newspapers said you did well.”

“Because I did,” she says, puffing up her chest before exhaling with a laugh. He chuckles. She looks at him, and feels fondness swell in her breast, and cuts to the chase. “But... what’s the real reason you asked me here, Yul?”

The good humor slips from his face. He looks older than she remembers.

“Dad wanted me to.” He says. That’s one thing she’s always loved about her brother – he never lies. It would show on his face in an instant. “He wants me to ask you for something. Since you’re the Deputy Chief Prosecutor.”

“You know I can’t,” Eun Sol says, still smiling. Her eyes are a little sad. Her brother has always been brilliant, a natural at strategy games where Eun Sol was hotheaded, and commanding because of his stature, but mild-mannered. It’s the one trait their father had tried to wring out of him. She hasn’t had any expectation of his protection against their parents since she was young.

“I know.” He says. “But I still wanted to buy you dinner.”

“I can’t let you buy, either,” she laughs. “Letting the CEO-to-be of a conglomerate pay for my meal? An audit would take me out in a second.”

“Not even if he’s your brother?” He says, but he seems to understand. 

“Even if you’re my brother.” She confirms. “How are you doing, Yul?”

He fidgets. His fingers twirl around the corner of his napkin this time.

“That’s the other thing I wanted to talk to you about.” He says. He hesitates. “I’m seeing someone.”

“Oh, congratulations!” Eun Sol says. 

He pauses.

“She’s...” 

Eun Sol’s lips twist with good humor.

“Appropriate?” She jokes. 

“Well, yes.” He sighs. “But I do love her.”

“Well, that’s good.” Eun Sol says, with a look of relief – her brother doesn’t seem to be suffering too much under their parents. She could never hold a grudge against him for something that hadn’t been his fault.

“What about you?” Yul asks, and Eun Sol looks at him. “Are you... happy?”

She smiles.

“Yeah.” She says, like there’s a secret that she’s holding onto, one that makes her warm and giddy. “I found something that makes me happy.”

**Author's Note:**

> NOTE: GHSLDJFLSDKJ IF YOU MADE IT THIS FAR.. twitter serpentinej tumblr leofemt


End file.
